


Matters of a Caged Bird

by Mr_Dadamy_Blake



Series: In Tandem with Shadows [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, sticking it to one (1) man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 09:14:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19373707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Dadamy_Blake/pseuds/Mr_Dadamy_Blake
Summary: Bruce was still being a bitch about everything that happened with Jason and wasn’t letting the leash extend too far.





	Matters of a Caged Bird

**Author's Note:**

> *All depictions of trauma are not accurate. Also this has mild depictions of trauma.*   
> If you think this project has a timeline that makes sense you would be wrong. Just don’t think about it. It’s what DC does and it’s worked for them.

Jason watched the news nearly as religiously as literally everyone else in the family. Even Damian, who has significantly chilled out. Almost a normal 8 year old. If normal 8 year olds knew how to drive despite not being able to reach the pedals. 

Weirdo children aside, everyone watched the news. Which was why Dick jetted out of the front door towards, presumably, wherever Barbara was keeping Tim Drake. It always made the national news when the man who murdered Jack Drake escape from Arkham Asylum. Jason turned from where he was still leaning over his homework to where Bruce sat. His eyes glued to the TV but his focus somewhere else. 

They’d been extra careful at the crime scene of Jack Drake’s murder to ensure that everything that was admissable in court wasn’t tampered with. Jason had watched as Bruce and Jim lost sleep making sure that Boomerang was locked away at Black Gate. When potential witnesses started dropping dead and evidence went missing Bruce lost more sleep trying to track down the bastards that made it possible. Then Boomerang played up the insanity plea. And they all watched as he was sentenced to do his time in Arkham Asylum. 

Roman Sionis— for all he was a nuisance and occasionally managed to surprise one of them— wasn't actually smart enough or influential enough to mess with court procedures as much as he had. Jason was sure that someone else had stakes in the orphanage operations and wanted to watch Tim Drake suffer for it. 

Sionis, at least, had been locked up in Black Gate all this time. Which only served to make Jason’s hunch that someone else was as equally involved as Sionis was. 

But Bruce was still being a bitch about everything that happened with Jason and wasn’t letting the leash extend too far. Jason felt the anger bubble under his skin, the way it almost made its way up his throat and form into a comment snide enough to start another fight. He had to hold his tongue if he ever wanted to trusted again. Every outburst seemed to push Bruce closer to forcing him into retiring the cape. 

If that happened Jason would leave, take his stuff and disappear. It felt like smoke in his lungs. He could feel the ash in  his mouth. His eyes stopped focusing and when he tried to blink it away he saw that stupid maniacal grin right in his face. Tinged a sickly green and bright blood red. Jason’s blood. 

He couldn’t breathe, his lungs where collapsing. His ribs ached and his head felt like the world on his shoulders. 

There’s a snap and the smell of iron.  _ Blood.  _ Jason looked down, the top part of his pencil was rolling off the table. He gripped it so tight that the lower half, still in his hand, had broken skin. 

“Jason,” Bruce said gently panicked, “are you ok?” 

Jason didn’t answer, he still felt like he couldn’t breathe. His insides were lead, stiff and solid, resting at the pit of his stomach. 

“I’m coming over to you, ok?” Bruce asked, not really waiting for Jason’s acknowledgement. “You’re in the living room, on the floor. You were doing your homework.” 

Jason looked around, when he blinked the haze started lifting. 

“Right, right,” He croaked, “TV, couch, recliner…”

 

Jason fought with Bruce today. It started out like a normal day but the anger bubbled under him and he couldn’t keep it in. Bruce was smothering him. He wasn’t doing enough to let the energy out. He hit the bag a few times and pulled away. He closed his eyes and used his the hem of his shirt to wipe sweat away. 

Bruce was never going to let him back out on the field. It clicked earlier while he was shouting at him. As long as Jason was Robin he wasn’t going back in the field in any capacity that mattered. Carla, the physical therapist, had told them he would be ready to join “sports” for real this time and Bruce had just quietly smiled and nodded in a pleasant manner. 

Jason knew better, he could read Bruce as easily as he could recite Jane Auston or Charlotte Brontë. The way his shoulders tensed, the tick of his forehead vein. The stiffness of his smile. It set him off. Jason stormed out of Carla’s office with little flair. He didn’t want to start anything with Bruce in front of his physical therapist. He probably should have called up his actual therapist. Actually use the number she gave him. 

For emergencies only. It didn’t feel like an emergency when he paced the waiting room while Bruce finished up with Carla. It didn’t feel like an emergency with the car ride back to the mansion was tense. 

Or when Jason asked when he’d be cleared to go out again. Or when Bruce told him he’d already been going out despite what Carla warned. 

It escalated pretty fast after that. Jason letting out all of his frustration with Bruce right then and there. 

“Maybe,” Jason said, “maybe you’re the one that needs a therapist.”

He ran off after that. Didn’t want to hear whatever dumb shit Bruce was about to say in retaliation. Jason’s better about the smoking. When he pulled out the box from between the bed frame and the mattress it felt like a defeat. So he threw it against the wall just was the door opened. 

For a slight second he thought it was Bruce coming back for more. But he finds himself staring down at the fun-sized devil. 

“Tch,” he squeaked at Jason, “maybe you should just quit being Robin.” 

Jason was sure Damian meant it as an insult but Jason’s not in the habit of letting a tiny blobfish get to him. In fact, Jason would be 18 next year. Dick got fired when he was 18. Jason watched Damian critically. Damian in return waited for Jason to say anything back. 

Clearly he didn’t expect agreement. “Maybe you’re right,  _ esquincle _ .” 

“What?” Damian huffed. 

“Maybe I should quit being Robin,” Jason explained, “anybody tell you you got good ideas occasionally?” 

“I always have good ideas.” Jason was constantly amused with the way Damian acted. Always the tiny adult. Usually Jason was good at not laughing. Today wasn’t a good day for that. 

“You’re good at drawing,” Jason drawled, “wanna help me make a new costume?” 

“It’s a uniform, not a costume.” 

“Whatever, you wanna help me or not? ‘Cause frankly I’m useless with a pencil.” 

“You’re useless in general.” Damian crossed his tiny little arms and studied him with his big discerning baby eyes. He turned on his heels. “Let me get my supplies.”

Alfred would be pleased. 

 

Damian snitched to Dick, though Jason wasn’t entirely sure he should blame a literal 8 year old that was trying to hide how excited he was at being given a task that would prove to  _ someone _ how good he was at anything he set his mind. It was no secret Damian admired Dick, who always took him into consideration and spoke to him like he does everyone. Like they’re important. 

Jason and Dick have never been the best of buds. They get on about as good as fire and water. That was entirely because Dick didn’t want to leave behind Robin and, well, Jason kind of  _ was  _ Robin. Ever since the trap he’s been...  _ different.  _

Damian was the only one, though very much a child, that didn’t understand why Jason was kept so close. He didn’t know Jason before the trap and barely knew him now. Though with the amount of time they were spending the past few days it was only a matter of time before they started learning how to walk around each other.  

It went a lot smoother than it did with Jason and Dick. 

Jason was only going to tease Damian about snitching to Dick for about, the rest of his natural born life. But that’s just what brothers do. It’s not his fault Dick has been struggling to find words for his disapproval of going behind Bruce’s back. The fucking hypocrite. 

“Jason—” 

“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘you can’t do this’ I’m going to vomit on your shoes,” Jason warned. Dick didn’t look very impressed. 

“You of all people should know I’m always down for anything that undermines Bruce’s authority,” Dick said plainly. “I just want to make sure you’re ready for what that means. And for what going out on your own means.” 

“Bruce isn’t giving me much of a choice,” Jason said, “It’s go out on my own or never go out again. And. That’s not an option. I’m not quitting.”

“You almost died.” 

“You’ve made mistakes that almost cost you your life,” Jason pointed out.

“It’s not the same.”

“Isn’t it? You were in a medically induced coma for three months around the time I started, your injuries were so bad,” Jason countered, “Babs is paralyzed.”

“You know he’d be exactly as insufferable with us as he is with you if we still lived with him.” 

“That’s exactly my point. He’ll never let me strike out on my own as Robin. I got accepted into Harvard and Stanford. I’ll be out of the mansion in August. Besides. Didn’t you start as Robin when you were eight?”

“Damian is a literal trained assassin.”

“And he thinks sunshine comes out of your ass,” Jason scoffed, “are we done stating the obvious? I think he deserves a chance to see what being a hero is like. Besides the kids a total narc. He’ll fit right in with you and Bruce.”

Dick sighed. He looked around his apartment. Looking for his next cleaning project, Jason hoped. The man was a total slob. There were actual pieces of his nightwing costume strewn about and if Jason didn’t know that the only people that went to Dick’s apartment were him and some of the Titans, well he’d be worried about how compromised they were. 

“Alright, okay. You got any name ideas?” Dick asked enthusiastically. The simple thought of sticking it to Bruce giving him a second wind probably. 

“I have a while to figure that out.” Jason shrugged, flung a leg across the back of Dick’s couch and tipped over so he was upside down.

“What about flamebird?” Dick suggested.

“What about suck a dick?” Jason said automatically. 

“Come on you could even modify the Nightwing costume!” Dick teased, poking at his side with a snicker. 

“Absolutely not, I’m not touching your disco fever nightmare with a ten foot pole.” 

“Fine, loser, how about Red Robin?” 

“Yumm~” was all the answer Dick needed. He rolled his eyes and trapped Jason in place by lifting his legs and resting them on Jason’s chest. Jason rolled his eyes. 

“Blue Jay?”

“Is bird-themed your only setting? Cardinal. Woodpecker.  _ Turdus migratorius.”  _

“I thought you were leaving that one behind?”

“Daywing.”

“Shut up.” 

“Wetbird.” Jason got a throw pillow to the face.


End file.
